(Good Morning America) Given the many challenges involved in raising an autistic child, parents are willing to try a variety of potential remedies, many of which are controversial and unproven.
[Meiko] Hester-Perez made her decision to try giving her 10-year-old son, Joey Perez, medical marijuana after his weight had become dangerously low due to his unwillingness to eat. She said that at the time she began the approach, he weighed only 46 pounds.
“You could see the bones in his chest. He was going to die,” she said. “My son had self-injurious behaviors. He was extremely aggressive, he would run out of our house… he was a danger to himself and others.”
But just hours after she gave him one of the pot-infused brownies, she said she could see a change — both in his appetite and demeanor.
She added that her son used to take a cocktail of medications, three times every day, for his condition. He now takes only three, and he has a marijuana brownie once every two or three days. He still cannot communicate verbally.
“I saved my son’s life, and marijuana saved my son’s life… When a mother hears that her son is knocking on death’s door, you will do anything to save his life,” said Hester-Perez.
Once again, we have a situation where a promising treatment for a syndrome that has a devastating effect on families is controversial only because of a century of reefer madness propaganda. Autism rates have skyrocketed in this country, and whether that is due to an actual increase in autism or to increased diagnosis and reporting of autism, the fact remains that thousands are raising children with a profound disorder that takes so much time, effort, and patience for parents to cope with.
There are many pharmaceutical drugs dispensed to treat autism that are far more powerful, psychoactive, mood-altering, and side-effect laden than cannabis, yet that’s not even a headline-worthy story. But if we take an autistic child who is aggressive, uncommunicative, and self-injurious and give him a pot brownie, it is a scandal and a controversy because, why, he might grow up to be a couch-surfing slacker living in mom’s basement and working in a record store?
One can only hope that our society somehow comes to its senses and supports research into pediatric medical cannabis, something that is less harmful to their minds and bodies than the violent television, high-fat cheeseburgers, caffeinated sodas, and high-fructose corn syrup we are far too eager to push on our youth.
Topics: ABC News, autism, Good Morning America
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Let’s analyze the info from GMA: “But just hours after she gave him one of the pot-infused brownies, she said she could see a change — both in his appetite and demeanor.” Really? Is that so hard to digest? Of course he did. He was stoned.
“She added that her son used to take a cocktail of medications, three times every day, for his condition. He now takes only three, and he has a marijuana brownie once every two or three days. He still cannot communicate verbally.” Okay. Let’s stop here. First of all, What she says cocktail, we should be told what drugs the kid was taking. For example, if it were a combo of prozac, haldol and naltrexone, that would suck. The side effects alone would trigger self abuse. But we don’t hear any details, as is too common in modern journalism. It’s all abstract information. Vague. I hate vague. I want details. Facts. Historical data. We don’t get it here, as is common in many “I healed my autistic son stories.”
“I saved my son’s life, and marijuana saved my son’s life… When a mother hears that her son is knocking on death’s door, you will do anything to save his life,” said Hester-Perez.
Well, Hester-Perez, I’m not doubting you. But as a fellow mother of an autistic child with self injury (you can see our story on you tube when you type in ‘autism and self-injury’) I need more details. Why? Because there is no long-term follow up on this case. It’s a drive by analysis. Right now. As you read this…is the child still self abusing? Is the pot intervention still working? Or has it, at least, signifigantly dimished the self injurious behavior? If it has, great! Than the entire autism community should support medical marijuana as therapeutic intervention for self injurious behavior. Trust me, I know autism and self injurious behavior. I have revolved inside this world for almost two decades. If marijuana would cure self abuse, I’d advocate it, but honestly, this mom, I don’t know her. I don’t her son’s case. All I know is my son. And his autism is severe. His self injurious behavior is extremely complex. I don’t see a pot brownie mitigating a behavior rooted in multiple antecedents, that fluctuate daily. I wish it could be that simple, but I don’t see it. Take a look at my son on youtube and you’ll understand where I’m coming from. His behavior can change within days, from simple things like, he didn’t see the chair that was supposed to be in the same spot in the kitchen to a loud noise outside or constipation to hunger, a wet diaper or he wants to walk outside. I don’t see pot brownies being the one size fits all to this situation, just as I don’t see other allegedly simplistic, one intervention cures, being realistic either. But, that said, I remain open minded. If pot helps her child, I support her, as another mother of an autistic child with self injury. Only she knows the pain she’s gone through and what she needs to do to help her son, within reason, of course. I hope he continues to improve. Did GMA ever show this child? Did they show before and after photos? or video? I’ll tell ya, my son is a full time job. It takes vigilant medical and behavioral analysis and monitoring of his mood, medical state, etc….to keep him at a level of homeostasis that will lower or eliminate SIB (self-injurious behaviors). It’s not easy. It takes a lot of people to help. But he’s worth it. And I’m sure this mother, in her darkest hours with her son, has felt so overwhelmed, so alone, so distraught and the world must have seemed so senseless, that her choice to use marijuanas seemed trivial in light of the pain and suffering around her.
According to research, “In chronic consumers of cannabis, the loss of CB1 receptors in the brain’s arteries reduces the flow of blood, and hence of glucose and oxygen, to the brain. The main results are attention deficits, memory loss, and impaired learning ability.” While this is disturbing, as a mom with an autistic son who has taken more punches to his head than Muhammad Ali, I’d say the years he’s spent slamming his fists into his temples, nose, ears and cheeks, have no doubt compromised brain cells and led to attention deficits, memory impairment and no chance to a learn a damn thing while his teachers or school nurse are busy holding his hands to prevent him from causing himself severe bodily injury. That said, the thought of pot makes me sick. I’ve always equated it with apathetic, lethargic self absorbed hippie types who don’t engange in conflict or fight for anything, except, well, in this case, their right to smoke more pot. Bet nobody will really tell you this, so be thankful I’m being honest with you, but that’s the percepton a lot of us have of people who smoke pot. Nonetheless, it would not surprise me if something I’ve always detested and viewed as a freaky drug that messes with people’s minds, would be the answer to my son’s self abuse….as no drug at this point has helped…the thing is, this would require identifying the areas of brain that would benefit from such a drug….and aren’t there people where cannibus would be contraindicated? The brain is very delicate….ingesting any drug is playing russian roulette with neotransmitters and connections…….and cannibus, like any drug, does not look for underlying metabolic, genetic, neurological or internal issues that could be causing sib, as in undetected intermittent bone, stomach or head pain.
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when you hear What about the children you can honestly say Exactly,safe for the children when it suits the ailment
People are mostly stupid, that simple. Hate to be misanthropic, but until humanity and its various societies show more evidence than not of compassion, sensibility, and intelligence (and policies that flow thereof), we’ll be having hysteria over MJ as medicine.